Saturday, December 6, 2014

Vinny Castilla, Fan Favorite - 2439

"He's got a great pair of hands," Rowe told The Sumter Item
in May of that year, "and, at shortstop that's what you have to have. I
don't think he can be a home run hitter, but it's working out that way
right now.

"He's definitely got a chance," Rowe continued, "if he can hit for a little power."

Castilla, better known by the more informal name Vinny Castilla, was signed by the Braves
out of the Mexican League in March 1990. He made it to Atlanta in
September 1991, playing 12 games. He played another nine for the Braves
in 1992.

More importantly for Castilla, though, was the Braves left him unprotected in the expansion draft. The Rockies selected him with the 40th pick.

As far as home runs go,
Castilla hit nine his first year, three the next. Then came a surge to
32 in the Rockies' playoff year in 1995. He wouldn't hit below 30 again
until 2000. He hit a high of 46 in 1998.

Of course, that stretch was not only Castilla's power years, but others' power years as well. As The New York Times reexamined
the 1998 home run chase in July 2009, the paper noted only five
players, including Castilla, have remained untarnished related to
steroids, "And even those five surely have their skeptics," The Times noted.

Nonetheless, Castilla became a Denver fan favorite.
He was also traded after 1999 to the Devil Rays. He returned to the
Colorado lineup in 2004 and again in 2006, retiring as a Rockie.

"In
the brief history of our franchise, few players have endeared
themselves to Rockies fans as much as Vinny," Rockies president Keli
McGregor told The Associated Press after Castilla's 2006 return.

He would officially retire
after the Caribbean Series in February 2007, joining the Rockies' front
office. But it was a retirement, at least related to the Caribbean
Series, that wouldn't stick.

A national hero in his native Mexico, Castilla returned this past winter to contribute to his native Mexican team. He contributed with a walk-off hit.

"That is why he is Vinicio Castilla," Mexico manager Homar Rojas told MLB.com Feb. 6. "He's been a good hitter for a long time. Nobody is surprised when he does something like that."